Syphilis: How deadly disease has spread in Australia

Authorities are raising awareness about syphilis through TV adverts such as this one. Courtesy: BBC

Less than a decade ago, doctors in Australia believed they were close to eliminating syphilis from remote indigenous communities – the centre of national efforts to fight the disease.

Since then, however, the sexually transmitted infection has grown into an outbreak spanning three states and a territory.

Doctors say six babies have died from congenital syphilis since 2011.

During the same period, they say the outbreak overwhelmingly affecting indigenous Australians has risen from about 120 people to more than 2,100.

Health experts have characterised it as a crisis, saying the nation faces a “big task” to bring the problem under control.

How did this happen?

The majority of syphilis sufferers in Australia are young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who live in regional areas in the nation’s north and centre, doctors say.

Indigenous health experts, including Associate Prof James Ward, issued a call in the Medical Journal of Australia in 2011 to try to end syphilis in communities where it was a problem.

But Associate Prof Ward says it has instead “spiralled out of control”, spreading from one Queensland community to elsewhere in the state, as well as to the Northern Territory, Western Australia and South Australia.

Why the outbreak has happened is not fully understood, although experts say it can partly be attributed to people moving in and out of communities.

But it has been worsened by authorities’ failure to adequately respond, according to Associate Prof Ward, from the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute.

“If this had occurred among young, heterosexual people in non-indigenous Australia there would be a national outcry,” he told the BBC.

“We missed the opportunity to bring it under control. It’s a really poor indictment on the public health response.”

If left untreated it can spread to the heart, brain and other major organs and cause death

Pregnant women can suffer stillbirths and miscarriages

Babies born with congenital syphilis can die or suffer permanent disabilities such as blindness.

Problem enters cities

The Australian government has described the problem as unacceptable, conceding it has taken too long to respond.

“In a day and age like ours, when you hear that you think: What the hell has happened? How was this situation allowed to happen?'” Indigenous Health Minister Ken Wyatt told Australian Broadcasting Corporation earlier this month.

In Queensland, home to more than half of recorded cases, the state government in 2016 pledged A$15m (£8.5m, $11m) towards tackling the problem.

It has placed much blame over the issue on funding cuts by a previous state government administration.